Earl (1911-1985) was our grandfather’s brother; Hill Farmstead Brewery rests upon the land that was once home to him and his 13 siblings. In his honor, this Stout is crafted from American malted barley, Flaked Oats, English roasted malts, American hops, Organic Guatemalan Coffee, our ale yeast, and water from our well. It is unfiltered and naturally carbonated. A silhouette of coffee and malt - an embodiment of complexity and drinkability, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Earl.

Coffee and chocolate seem to lead the way for the scent, with roasted and vanilla backing. Good and bold, pretty straight forward oatmeal stout.

Taste is a slight improvement, some more complexities here. Some extra roasted malt/char presence here which feels slightly astringent at times, coffee still comes out in front though. Chocolate malts, caramel, oats, nutty malts, light vanilla and some hop presence make up the rest.

Pours pitch black with a nice dark caramel colored head about two fingers that lingers nicely.

Aroma is earthy coffee, fresh oats, cocoa powder, some grass, and a faint mineral like quality. Coffee smell is lighter than a lot of other coffee infused beers I've had.

On the palate come more pronounced coffee flavors, bitter bakers chocolate, earth, toasted biscuit, black tea, chicory, and a caramelized molasses spice. Very interesting and definitely get the oatmeal throughout. It's not bash in any form, more of an easy drinking breakfast beer than anything else. Can also see this being a beer you pull out on a camping trip.

Mouthfeel is a bit lighter than I would have liked. Medium body with a nice silky feel to it. Once again, seems like Shaun gets that perfect carbonation level in his beer.

Overall this is an earthy, grainy, bitter chocolate with a coffee presence kind of beer. Not huge on rich chocolate, roast, vanilla, or dark fruit like some can be. You have to enjoy it for what it is and forget about your expectations. (1,087 characters)

t - Taste follows the nose pretty closely. Lots of roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, cream, milk chocolate, caramel malts, and bitter burnt malts. Not quite as great as the nose and a little less coffee but still a great taste.

Fortunate enough to have had this on-draft at Parker Pie Co. in West Glover, Vt. My good friend, a Kingdom-native and Hill aficionado who had tried this before me was underwhelmed. I figured to give it a try.

A: Silky black and oily with a gorgeous mocha head. Looks great.

S: Coffee, syrupy, chocolately. Smells great.

T: Whoa. Damn. I usually find non-imperial stouts watery and sour, but this hits the nail on the head. Sweet and sour, but well balanced in it. Coffee is most pronounced with a good deal of chocolate, also some vanilla. Absolutely fantastic.

M: Very well done. One of the few Oatmeal stouts I've had with a good mouthfeel. Thick and satisfying. As my underwhelmed friend observed, "it's like a meal." Probably moreso than a Guinness, frankly.

O: Glad to have brought a bottle home with me. Try it for yourself if you can, but this is the only Oatmeal stout I've ever ben wow'ed by. Fantastic. (917 characters)

A-jet black, decent mocha/brown/almost red head that becomes a ring with some lacingS-Lots of chocolate malt and coffeeT-Roasted malt, thick chocolate, followed by an almost bitter/burnt coffee tasteM-This is kinda where I lose sense of this, it's almost too sludge-like, like an entire meal in itself. The coffee leaves an overly roasted dryness in your mouth that makes each subsequent sip not as inviting as I would like.O-Getting a couple bottles of this sure beats the 3+ hours I would have waited in line for a growler fill, but my high hopes for this weren't quite met (579 characters)

Pours like motor oil… I may as well have been pouring the very depths of hell into a glass. Gina even said as I was pouring it in to the glass, “that doesn’t even look like beer.” The aroma of chocolate and coffee was wonderful, very present but not overpowering by any means. Drinking it was like taking a sip of coffee and then having an angel drizzle Hershey’s chocolate syrup in my mouth. Mouth feel is not something I normally write about unless it’s very relevant to the beer and mouth feel is certainly one of the traits that makes this beer so damn good.The inclusion of oatmeal in the brewing process makes this already thick stout very smooth and creamy with a slight amount of carbonation. Honestly it was more like drinking a milk shake than a beer.

I was lucky enough to have a friend who was heading up there and willing to bring a growler back for me but unfortunately this beer is only available at their farm in Greensboro Bend, VT. If you’re ever within an hour or two of this place and have the extra time get out there and grab a growler. (1,416 characters)

Thanks to Kyle for picking this one up for me. 22oz. growler poured into a Brooklyn Brewery snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Pours pitch black with a 1 finger fine mocha head with decent retention. Lacing is stringy and sparse with good stick. Thin oily legs. A good looking beer.

Nose is huge coffee and mocha notes. Like a man made of coffee beans took a crap and it got put in a beer. Incredible. Very aromatic.

Opens chocolate and mocha. Dank coffee beans towards the middle with milk and dark chocolate in the finish. Some fudginess lends a mellow sweetness throughout. Aftertaste of coffee, lactose, and chocolate. Delicious.

Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Silky and smooth in the mouth and smooth, warm, and silky going down. Messy finish with a lingering aftertaste. Great body and super drinkable. Spot on as always.

Hill Farmstead just can't help but put up winner after winner. Earl is no different. Not the most complex brew but this beer delivers exactly what it intends to. Like smelling and drinking a mocha latte through and through. The body just serves to enhance the experience. One of the best in the style. (1,146 characters)

A: Dark dark brown with fluffy but small white to mocha head that fades to a thin lacing of mocha coloring, it is completely opaque but not the darkest stout I've seen still quite good.

S:lots of coffee and oats the smell is there but not pungent or even that strong. There is not much else there I can't smell the malt or hops at all.

T: upfront there is a solid coffee taste but it is not overpowering and well balanced with a nice sweet malt presence. The oats start to come in after the ential taste that blends with the taste of hops that balance out everything with there slight bitterness through the finish which also features the coffee flavor and the oat flavor.

M:it has a hop bite to it for a stout. It is also quite oily it is neither thick nor thin, but does have some chewiness to it though not toffee status

O: This is a pretty good coffee oatmeal stout not my favorite of the variety as WNB is definitely better imo but nonetheless this is a really good beer that I quite enjoyed as with pretty much all hill farmstead if you can get your hands on it do so. (1,108 characters)

T~ dark chocolate coffee with a nice bitterness. roasted dark fruits as well

M~ not too heavy which i like in a porter but still a really nice consistency. nice carbonation. low rating just because its not very "stouty" to me

O~ a really good oatmeal coffee porter for sure. i could compare it to a lighter Highland Oatmeal porter without the coffee of course. would definitely like a few bottles to keep IN hand ::see what i did there:: lol

EDIT:bottled edition.

as i stated before it drinks like a porter. its like they took Everett, dumped a whole lot of oats in it. along with a little bit of coffee and theres totally nothing wrong with that! very delicious and smooth! it goes down way too easily! (848 characters)

Earl pours black with a moderate sized creamy tan head on top. The foam fades slowly leaving minimal lacing on the glass.

The aroma isn't as strong as I thought it would be. Notes of chocolate and roasted malt dominate. Coffee is present but not very strong. There's also some oatmeal notes in the aroma.

Each sip of this full bodied beer is creamy and smooth with mild carbonation. The flavor is rich with dark flavors of chocolate, roast malt and oatmeal. Some bitter coffee flavor appears in the middle, but it's not very strong. It finishes mildly bitter with some grassy notes. Once gone the roast malt and chocolate lingers on the palate.

This is a very tasty beer with a great mouthfeel. However, I'm not getting a lot of coffee flavor. It is there, but very subtle. My growler was filled 1 week before being served and was chilled the entire time. I don't think the age of my beer made the coffee fade. (913 characters)

A- Pours a dark brown that appears pretty much jet black in the glass with about a finger of fairly dark creamy mocha head that has nice retention but slowly recedes to a thin layer leaving light lacing.

O- This was a fantastic coffee/oatmeal stout that is exactly what I expected from HF. I could easily drink this for breakfast. It is a little bit on the rich side, but other then that it is very easy to drink. I highly recommend trying this, definitely one of the better oatmeal stouts I've had. (989 characters)

A dark chocolate colored rich creamy 1.5 finger head that fades fairly slowly with lots of lacing, over a pitch black beer with no light coming through, great appearance for a growler that's almost week old.

Nose brings some dark malts, a light milk chocolate and flaked oats, quite creamy, a little roast, etc. and despite all that no real acrid or char aroma. Then coffee, a little from possible roast, but more like fresh brewed and fresh roasted coffee, but not a ton. Also alittle caramel and fluffy nougat, as well as hints of light earthy hops, and just a touch of vanilla.

Taste starts with big fluffy malts, fluffy nougat flavors, caramel, a bit of milk chocolate and cocoa, etc. Then coffee, fresh roasted coffee beans like they steeped the beer right in the beans for a while, an earthy coffee that's slightly nutty and a little bitter but not a lot. Dark malts bring just a bit of bitter slightly charred flavor, but hardly acrid, and even seems to have a nice caffeine pick-me-up. A nice fluffy oatmeal center, creamy and rich with a nice nougat caramel touch to it, and hint of vanilla again, little bitter acrid char lingering as it moves to the finish. There are very light earthy hops with a touch of pine in there as well adding to the bitterness of the charred malts and coffee beans. The finish dries a bit but remains a little sweet, long lingering bitterness that doesn't get overpowering, in fact it's a nice bitterness, due to both light earthy piney hops and roasted char. Finish also coats the tongue a bit as the oats really stick there for a bit, and leave the light chocolate, bitter roast, vanilla, and a nice coffee bitterness and light roasted coffee beans.

Mouth is med to fulled bodied but quite rich and creamy, nice carb.

Overall quite nice, nice malt bill with creamy oats, little chocolate, caramel, nougat, and even hint of vanilla (not sure how, maybe just perceived from the oats and chocolate and coffee). The coffee is quite strong but not overpowering, nice coffee flavor that really comes through. The bitterness is nice too, a combination of roasted malts, light earthy piney hops, and roasted coffee beans. The only thing keeping this from being a great beer is that light bitter acrid char flavor that gets a little much at times. Otherwise very nice. (2,363 characters)

On tap at Blackback Pub in Waterbury. Served in a Hill Farmstead stem.

Pour: Really dark black, but not quite midnight. Two fingers of khaki foamy head form, and really leaves a thick coating on the glass.

Smell: Earl is like sticking you face into a bag of whole coffee beans. Very roasty, and even bitter on the nose. Some dark chocolate. A light cream and some oatmeal come through.

Taste: Bitter black, dark roasted coffee up front, followed by a mocha dark chocolate. A sweet bready oatmeal flavor balances the bitterness of the coffee. This is very in your face with coffee. Some light vanilla gives ways to more bitter roasted coffee beans on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Really nice a creamy, and would be supremely drinkable if not for the bitterness. Medium bodied.

A- earl pours a massive opaque body with a mocha head of foam that elevates over the body of the brew from the pour. A rich chocolate latte cover remains as the subsiding occurs. Good lacing on the edges with a dark glow seems to be positioning this brew as a big time coffee rush

S- a rush of coffee beans and a delicious flakes oat scent is immediately dispensed from the head. Some chocolate and mocha flavors are evident in the background along with a bitter hop scent with is a delight. I even get a slight vanilla theme that rounds it off as some cream in the coffee feeling

T- Nailed it!!!! Bitter coffee flavors are enhanced with the chocolate and oatmeal flavors I seek out. There is no question Shaun concentrated on utilizing the coffee component to enhance the stout instead of relying on just the flaked outs. There are some mean beans in this brew. Not to mention the sweet vanilla flavors as well as some excellent roasty flavor

M- smooth and creamy simultaneously. furthermore, there is a bitter and roasty flavor happening

O- again, this is what I look for in a coffee stout. An all out assault on coffee flavors. In my opinion, this is the best coffee stout I have had since wake n bake. I wish I could do a side by side with these two. (1,447 characters)

Picked up a growler of this while on a beerventure with BPK59. This time around Earl achieved its coffee characteristics via a pour over method (pouring the beer over the beans) with the coffee from a wonderful place in western MA whose name escapes me while writing this (which is a shame as I am very familiar with them after having spent years living in western MA).

A - Poured in to my Duvel tulip a super dark brown slightly translucent around the edges with one of the darkest, richest heads I have ever seen. Three fingers of creamy milk chocolatey goodness that leaves light side lacing and very nice retention.

Chilled growler into a glass, from a long-ago trade. This is from notes; the growler was consumed fresh.

A: Pours black with edge translucence. Tan head.

S: Smells heavily of coffee, roasted grain, vanilla. The aroma is rounded out by mild wafts of dark chocolate. Earthy hops. It reminded me a little of Velvet Merlin at the time; this was at least a year ago, so maybe the recipe has changed.

T: Roasted coffee beans, roasted malt; they lead the way and set the tone of the beer. The roast is enhanced by the choice of earth hops. It isn't until the finish, which carefully coaxes milk chocolate and vanilla out of the nether, that the beer moves away from the charred flavors into something more balanced.

M: Smooth, silky body; the use of oats is evident, and well-received.

O: I think this is solid, but in this rough area of styles (porter / stout being kind of interchangeable today), I'd give the nod to Twilight of the Idols and Everett in HF's stable. (971 characters)

Huge thanks to Alewatcher for this one. Enjoyed on a nice cool DLD days eve 2012.

A: brown khaki head, little legs, but very nice red hues. The beer itself is very dark and a great viscosity,

S:very sweet, caramel, coconut, some lactose, and at the very end - a little peaty smoke.

T: honestly, if you didn't tell me it was a bourbon barrel stout - I wouldn't believe it. Id say it was a scotch aged coffee smoked porter and fantastic at that. Its wonderful, just so different than it smells.

M: thin, slick, oily off the tongue - feels like a porter

O: very very good, but doesn't fit the style. Absolutely worth the taste, absolutely worth the price, but expect a world class porter. (690 characters)

Clear, very dark brown color with a light, bubbly tan head. Excellent retention and thick lacing. Earthy and roast coffee aroma, with surprising amount of hops and some faint chocolate notes. Flavor is typical of an oatmeal stout, creamy and smooth, with a silky body, and a strong chocolate and malt body throughout. Minimal bitterness, but strong fresh coffee flavor throughout. Much more robust and enjoyable experience than the BA version of Earl. (491 characters)

On tap at the 3Penny this past weekend.A beautiful pitch black with a coffee head, pristine in elegance in the tulip.Roasted barley and coffee aromas, luscious malt. The taste confirms and enhances upon the smell. The rich creaminess of the oats is the bed for the roasted flavor to lie upon. Laps of luxury from the glass. Beautiful creamy mouthfeel without any acridness from the roast at all. Terrifically balanced. (420 characters)

Overall: Another Hill Farmstead brew..another beer right at the top of its class. Exceptional for a coffee stout. While this is not my favorite style, the coffee is not too bitter but it is highly present. If I were to reach for a coffee stout, this is where I would go to. (532 characters)